Meadowlands: Jesse Duke looks to leap back into the winner's circle

The year 2019 was special for trainer Chris Ryder but everything didn’t go perfectly in his stable. While potential Horse of the Year Bettor’s Wish, a $20,000 bargain yearling, was enjoying tremendous success for Ryder, another son of Bettor’s Delight named Jesse Duke N was on the sidelines.

“He won the Breeders Crown down there (New Zealand) at 2 and 3,” said Ryder of Jesse Duke N, a horse that would be competing as a 4-year-old in New Zealand but is considered a 5-year-old in North America.

“We’ve had him over here for four months before we qualified him,” said Ryder. Jesse Duke N was a six-figure purchase by Ryder along with co-owners Deo Volente Farms LLC and T.J. Pontone. Ryder had to make some changes to get Jesse Duke N where he wanted him to be as a racehorse and one of those was to geld him. Another was to add Lasix. “He bled in his last couple of races.”

Jesse Duke N will make his third North American start on Saturday night in the $25,000 final of the Leap Year Series for horses that fit the non-winners of $10,500 conditioned class. He drew post six with regular pilot Dexter Dunn in the bike.

Dunn has managed to keep Jesse Duke N under control racing him strictly from off the pace. “He got a bit grabby on Dexter and he’s just trying to relax him,” said Ryder of the past performances that show Jesse Duke N saving his best for the homestretch.

After a pair of educational qualifying races at The Meadowlands in January, Jesse Duke N made his long awaited North American debut on February 8 in the first leg of this series. Rated in eighth through a very soft opening half, Jesse Duke N flew home from seventh on the final turn to a 1:51 3/5 victory with a 26-second final quarter explosion.

Last week Jesse Duke N and Dunn found themselves a bit closer to the early pace and looked to be in trouble gapping cover some on the final turn. Again it was Dunn who coaxed something extra and Jesse Duke N devoured his rivals with another 26-second kicker.

“He got a little lazy on Dexter in that last start but that’s okay,” said Ryder, who knows a thing or two about some other lazy horses that can be woken up nearing the wire.

Ryder suggests that Jesse Duke N is not in fact a horse that needs to be raced from off the pace as several of his best efforts Down Under were on the front end. Needless to say Jesse Duke N may use Saturday’s final to test his speed along with stablemate Bushwacker, who landed post eight in the field of 10.

Bushwacker went a very strange trip in leg one of this series, losing all momentum on the second turn yet fighting back late for a solid second-place finish. “I don’t know what it is with him. He got around the first turn perfectly,” said Ryder. “But was awful on that last turn.”

Minor changes were made and Bushwacker, a 9-year-old closing in on three-quarters of a million dollars in career earnings, showed solid pace at both ends last week and nearly upset with Dunn aboard. Corey Callahan picks up the drive on Saturday with Dunn glued to Jesse Duke N.

With Bettor’s Wish training back and doing stallion duty at the same time, Ryder’s back-up plan for the Borgata Series (nee Levy) is Jesse Duke N, a horse with zero half-mile track experience. “I had hoped to have had the chance to race him at Yonkers before the nomination payments were due but it didn’t work out,” said Ryder. “We put him in and I hope to race him at Yonkers at least once before the series begins.”

Saturday’s Leap Year Final should be a good first test for the import, who must first beat a solid field that includes the 1:47 3/5 winner Hayden Hanover (post 3) as well as the 1:49 winner in 2019 Ocean Colony (post 4).

The Meadowlands offers 13 races on Saturday night with first post some time after 6:55 p.m.